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September 29, 2012

India will issue a request to the US Government next month for procuring 145 M777 ultra light howitzers for the Army at a cost of over Rs 3,000 crore.

"The Letter of Request (LoR) for procuring 145 Ultra Light Howitzers
for the Indian Army through the Foreign Military Sales route would be
issued in October," a Defence Ministry official told PTI today.

The clearance for procuring these howitzers was given recently by the
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister A K Antony.

The Ultra Light Howitzers of 155 mm (39 calibre) are being
acquired for deployment in high altitude areas in Arunachal Pradesh and
Ladakh, officials said.

The Ultra Light Howitzers are expected to be the first artillery guns to be included into the Army in the last 26 years.

After the Bofors controversy in 1986, no new gun has been procured by the Army for its artillery.

The M777 guns, manufactured by the BAE Systems of the US, can be airlifted easily and be used for quick deployment of assets in mountainous regions.

The go-ahead for procurement of these guns had been cleared by a
high-level committee headed by DRDO chief V K Saraswat after leaked
trial reports of the guns suggested that they were not fully meeting the
parameters of the Army.

The Army is also hoping to induct the Bofors guns manufactured indigenously by the Ordnance Factory Board at its facilities in Jabalpur. The guns will be ready for pre-user trials phase in December.

September 28, 2012

( NDTV) : Deploying its lethal combat arsenal near the Indo-Pak border, the Indian
Air Force (IAF) is going to base a squadron of its frontline fighter
aircraft Su-30MKI at Sirsa in Haryana by December.

This will be
the second squadron of the Su-30MKI to be deployed in the Western
Command area after deployment of the aircraft in Halwara in Punjab.

The aircraft will be deployed in Sirsa which is a key base along the Pakistan border, IAF officials said in New Delhi.
Till now, the Sukhois have been deployed in seven squadrons including
the two in the eastern sector in Tezpur and Chabua, Bareilly in Uttar
Pradesh, Halwara in Punjab and at its home base at Lohegaon in Pune.

The IAF is planning to induct a total of 272 Sukhois from Russia by 2017.

The
twin-engined Russian-origin Sukhois are now produced under licence at
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore. India is also planning
to equip the aircraft with BrahMos super-sonic cruise missile.

Su-30s can fly for more than 10 hours without refuelling, the sources added.

The
first Sukhoi 30 was inducted in the late 90s. The IAF started inducting
the MKI version in early part of this decade. First batch of the MKI
version aircraft will be upgraded under a Rs. 11,000 crore plan jointly by Russia and HAL.

China is not building a second aircraft carrier, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said on Thursday.
Western media reports this week said China is building a second carrier in Shanghai and it will be launched late this year.
"Such reports are inaccurate," Yang said.
China's first aircraft carrier was delivered and commissioned for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Tuesday.
The carrier, refitted from the Soviet-built warship Varyag, was
renamed Liaoning and underwent years of refitting and sea trials.
The 1,000-ft vessel is designed to carry 26 aircraft and 24 helicopters.

September 25, 2012

China's first aircraft carrier, an overhauled former Soviet vessel,
has been formally handed over to China's navy, local media reported on
Monday.
The official ceremony was held on Sunday at the Dalian shipyard in
Northeast China, where the aircraft carrier has been docked for
refitting since 2002.
During the ceremony, China's national flag, the People's Liberation
Army flag, and the Chinese navy's colors were raised over the ship,
currently known as Number 16.
The Admiral Kuznetsov class Varyag aircraft carrier was 70% complete
when China bought it from Ukraine for $20 million in 1998. Before being
sold, the ship was disarmed and its engines were removed.
China launched a complete overhaul of the ship in 2002, also
developing carrier-based aircraft. Beijing has repeatedly insisted the
carrier poses no threat to its neighbors and that it will primarily be
used for training and research.
The 1,000-ft vessel is designed to carry 26 aircraft and 24 helicopters.
There has been speculation in the Chinese media that the aircraft
carrier could be named Diaoyudao after the Chinese name for the disputed
islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea.
The long-running territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo escalated
in August, after Japan formally announced its decision to buy three of
the five disputed islands, called Senkaku in Japan, from the Kurihara
family for 2.05 billion yen ($26.1 million).
The islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan, lie on a vital shipping route and are situated above large hydrocarbon deposits.

September 24, 2012

Only been hearing about the E F414 that will power the LCA Tejas Mk-II,
never heard anything about the radar, but at the recently concluded
International Conference on Energising Aerospace Industry, got to know
that the AESA will be on the Mk-II, indigenously built, making the Mk-II
a full-fledged multirole fighter, besides other stuff like new avionics
and airframe.

Right now under design and conception stage, the radar will have some help from outside, but largely home-built.

Indigenous content on the Mk-II will be 75 per cent. First flightof
Mk-II expected in 2013 and induction into the IAF approximately by
2015.

For the first time since World War II, Japan has offered to
export weapons to any country and India is first on its list. This
forging of close ties with India is seen as an effort by Tokyo to
counter the growing Chinese influence in Asia.
The offer of weapons includes electronic warfare equipment, patrol
vessels and high tech equipment. Japan has also offered to set up joint
ventures (JVs) in defence in India thereby providing cutting-edge technology to the local private and public sector.
Army Chief General Bikram Singh will visit Tokyo next month. Besides
delegation level talks will be held here between the Navies of the two
countries in late November.
Signalling a major policy shift regarding export of weapons banned
since 1945, Japan has chosen India as the first country for sale of
defence equipment besides offering to transfer cutting-edge technology
through JVs to give a boost to Indian public and private defence
companies.
Tokyo made these significant offers to New Delhi recently through
official channels, sources said here on Sunday. Welcoming the gesture
from one of the most advanced countries in the world in terms of defence
technology, India, however, informed Japan that its companies can
participate through global competition. Tokyo has now allowed some of
its firms to respond to the Indian Navy’s tender for seaplanes.
After facing nuclear holocaust in World War II, Japan, so far, produced
weapons for its self-defence and practiced pacifist policies regarding
export of weapons. Incidentally, Japan imports most of its big-ticket
weaponry from the US through transfer of technology and, in turn,
exports state-of-the-art
equipment to the US.
However, Japan now wants to break this isolation due to growing economic and strategic challenges from China.
Incidentally, some Japanese armament manufacturing companies for the
first time took part in international defence exhibition, Def-Expo,
organised in Delhi earlier this year. India plans to buy weapons and
defence equipment worth over 30 billion dollars in the next five to
seven years and Japan is keen to have its presence in the Indian market,
sources said.
In the past few years Japan has consciously forged close strategic
relations with India given its growing maritime prowess in the Indian
Ocean region and Asia. Willing to export weapons to India is part of
Japan’s strategic vision to negate Chinese influence in East and South
China Sea by having close relations with other countries like Indonesia
and Philippines.
Moreover, India and Japan have in the past conducted exercises between
Coast Guards of two countries. For the first time they will have a
full-fledged naval exercise later this year. Army Chief General Bikram
Singh will also visit Tokyo early next month and is likely to explore
possibilities of having first-ever joint exercises with the Japanese
Army.
Besides this, Staff Exchanges between Japan Air Defence Force (ASDF)
and Indian Air Force will be held in 2012 and be developed to Staff
Talks at the earliest date.
The groundwork for these exercises and exchanges was done by Defence
Minister AK Antony during his visit to Japan in November last year.
While taking stock of maritime security and anti-piracy measures with
his counterpart Yasuo Ichikawa, he also stressed for closer defence ties
with Japan in the coming years.

September 21, 2012

Russia and India will discuss in October the situation around technical failures found in sea trials of an aircraft carrier refitted for India by a Russian shipyard.
The carrier Vikramaditya, formerly the Russian Navy’s Admiral
Gorshkov, was supposed to be handed over to the Indians on December 4,
after a refit which has suffered a series of cost and time overruns and
frequently caused disputes between the customer and supplier.
The ship experienced problems with some of its new replacement
boilers during sea trials in the White Sea last month, and will now need
yet more repairs, Russian shipyard managers said this week.
The carrier is to be repaired by May 2013, United Shipbuilding Corporation President Andrei Dyachkov said.
“In our estimate, it will take from five to seven months to complete
the repairs. The work is to be finished in May 2013,” he said, adding
that the ship’s handover will be tentatively postponed by nine months.
There are a number of proposals for India that will help compensate for that, he said without elaborating.
In addition to the boilers, the sea trials showed other problems,
including the ship's refrigerators and nitrogen generators, Dyachkov
said.
He also said Chinese materials, specifically refractories that were
used in manufacturing the boilers, were partially damaged during the
trials.
“We plan to discuss our further cooperation in this project with our
Indian colleagues at a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental
commission on military-technical cooperation which will he held in Delhi
in early October,” Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.
No assessment has yet been made of the extent of the damage caused to
the ship’s propulsion systems, he said, but added: “The fact that our
quality is getting worse really is a problem.”

Close on the heels of the success of Agni-IV trial,
India on Friday test-fired nuclear weapons capable Agni-III ballistic
missile for its full range of 3,000 km from the Wheeler Island, off the
Odisha coast.

The 17-metre tall, surface-to-surface
long range missile was picked up from the production lot and fired by
the Strategic Force Command personnel from a rail mobile launcher at
1.20 p.m. After a flight duration of around 15 minutes, it impacted the
pre-designated target in the Indian Ocean with a two digit accuracy and
met the mission objectives, according to official sources.

After
accelerating to an altitude of more than 500 km, the missile re-entered
the atmosphere and withstood searing temperatures before splashing down
near the target point. Radars located along the east coast, telemetry
stations and electro-optical network tracked and monitored the missile’s
performance in real time, while two down range ships recorded the
terminal event as the missile impacted the target.

The
two-stage solid propelled Agni-III has already been inducted into the
services and can carry a payload weighing 1.5 tonnes to a distance of
3,000 km. It is equipped with an advanced guidance and navigation system
to ensure accuracy. This was the fourth success of Agni-III in a row
and the seventh belonging to Agni series.

In the past five months, all the variants of Agni from Agni-V to Agni-1 have been successfully test-fired.

The missile is equipped with hybrid navigation, guidance and control systems along with advanced on-board computers.

The electronic systems are hardened for higher vibration, thermal and acoustic effects, a DRDO official said.

Though
the first development trial of Agni-III carried out on July 9, 2006
could not achieve the desired result, subsequent tests conducted on
April 12, 2007, May 7, 2008 and February 7, 2010 from the same base were
all successful.

Friday’s test came after a
successful trial of highly advanced Agni-IV ballistic missile with a
strike range of about 4000 km from the same range.

India plans to base its indigenous Airborne Early Warning &
Control system on the western border, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief
Marshal N A K Browne said today.

"Yes, we have
identified. Work is going to start (on where it would be based)", said
the Air Chief Marshal, adding that "it will be in the western border to
start with".

He was speaking at a press conference after a
function to commemorate arrival of AEW&C India aircraft, which is
the fully modified EMB-145 regional jet of Brazil's Embraer aircraft
manufacturer. "This (AEW&C) will be used for surveillance and
control".

According to DRDO officials, the system would detect,
identify and classify threats in the surveillance area and act as a
command and control centre to support air operations.

After the
operational requirements were firmed up between DRDO and IAF in 2007,
the contract for three modified aircraft was finalised in August 2008.
The first fully modified aircraft landed in Bangalore from Brazil a
month ago.

The second aircraft is slated to arrive in December and the third one next year.

The
Air Chief Marshal and Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister V K
Saraswat said all the three aircraft are proposed to be operationalised
by the IAF in April 2014.

Aiming to avoid any misunderstanding on their borders, India and China are planning to set up hotlines between army commanders in-charge of their respective border areas along Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern states in the next three to four months.

Under the proposal, there will be direct hot line between Indian Army's
Udhampur-based Northern Commander and his counterpart in Lanzhou
Military Region and the Kolkata-based Eastern Army Commander will have
the same facility with the Chinese military region commander in Chengdu,
sources said here.

They said if the proposal, first mooted at
the Annual Defence Dialogue betwen the two sides last year, is cleared
by the Government, the hotlines would be set up within next three to
four months.

A similar hot line is being worked out between the
Navies of the two countries to avoid any stand-offs in the high seas
while patrolling international waters.

The proposal to set up a
hot line comes soon after the troops of the two countries came face to
face in July near Chushul in Ladakh while patrolling a disputed area and
disengaged only after laying claims on it through the banner drill.

More than 400 transgressions by the Chinese troops have been reported in Indian territory in the last few years.

India and China have a long-pending border dispute over and China over
which they have held 15 round of talks between the Special
Representatives of the two countries.

At present, India has
such an arrangement with Pakistan where the Director Generals of
Military Operations (DGMO) get in touch with each other in case of
tensions at the LoC or the international border.

The
arrangement worked well recently when an Indian Army helicopter by
mistake went inside Pakistan but was allowed to return safely after the
two DGMOs talked.

(IANS) : The government is set to give the Indian Air
Force (IAF) more firepower and capabilities during its 80th anniversary
year: New combat and heavy-lift helicopters.

Authoritative
sources told India Strategic (www.indiastrategic.in) that the
financial bid for the Boeing Apache AH-64D had been opened mid-September
while that of the two helicopters in the heavy-lift competition - the
Boeing Chinook CH-47F and the Russian Mi-26 - should be opened before
September-end or so.

It should not take much time to announce the
selection as the company with the lower bid would win the deal(s)s to
supply the helicopters. Perhaps, the two choices should formally be
announced on Air Force Day on October 8, but possibly before.

In
the case of the combat helicopter competition, Russia had withdrawn its
Mi-28 earlier this year, leaving the field open only to Boeing. So in
this case, Boeing will be the winner for the deal to supply 22
helicopters for around $1.4 billion at the estimated market price.
Boeing's quote is, of course, secret.

As for the heavy-lift
helicopters, the Chinook CH 47F is technically regarded as "more
capable" than the Mi-26 but then, the Russian craft carries more
under-slung cargo. the IAF will have to make a tough choice here as the
Russian machine is not being manufactured now.

Notably, the
acquisition programmes of the IAF and the Indian Navy have been on a
rather fast track while that of the army has been delayed due to recall
and/or revision of several RfPs and other issues.

The government
has already cleared a comprehensive upgradation of the IAF's airfields
through a programme called MAFI (Modernisation of Airfield
Infrastructure), a sophisticated communication network called AFNET,
more midair refuelers and AWACS, Pilatus basic trainers, additional
transport aircraft - including the C-130J Super Hercules and C 17
Globemaster III - and the selection of the French Dassault Rafale
medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).

Sources also told
India Strategic that negotiations with Dassault and other stakeholders
like systems supplier Thales and engine-maker Safran-Snecma were
proceeding smoothly and the deal should conclude within this financial
year (ending March 2013) if not in this calendar year. The package of
offsets, transfer of technology and partnerships to produce various
systems in India is being negotiated. Several delegations have visited
the defence ministry and IAF headquarters in New Delhi and HAL
facilities in Bangalore.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is the
lead integrator for the MMRCA project. The IAF also has four big-ticket
deals with Russia: more than 270 SU-30MKI fighter jets, 80 Mi-17-1V
helicopters, joint production of a multirole transport aircraft (MTA)
and an Indian variant of the PAK-50 fifth generation fighter aircraft
that will be the arrowhead of the IAF in the 2020s.

Periodic upgrades are also on. The MiG-29 upgrade has been sanctioned while that of the Jaguar is under consideration.

Significantly,
defence manufacturers are supported in negotiations by their
respective governments, even if the deals are what is known as DCS
(Direct Commercial Sales).

French diplomats are supporting the MRCA process and US and Russian diplomats their countries' respective equipment.

The
Boeing Chinook is on a DCS offer, while the Apache deal is on both
commercial and the US Government's Foreign Military Sales (FMS)
programme, for which the Department of Defence charges a fee of between
2.5 to 5 percent. Certain systems on the Apache, like the Longbow radar
and weapons, are proprietary for the US Army. The Longbow, made by
Northrop Grumman, can scan up to 256 targets within 30 seconds - and
that's a formidable, unmatched capability.

Interestingly,
Raytheon's Stinger air-to-ground missiles are on board the Apache, as
also other IAF, Indian Army and Navy helicopters.

The US has
offered the latest Block-III version of the Apache to India. This model
has 26 technology insertions over the previous model that make the
machine network-centric.

Network centricity, in fact, is the key
for future IAF operations, and mentioned so by its chief, Air Chief
Marshal N.A.K. Browne. All air and ground assets of the IAF are
currently being networked.

Boeing recently invited a group of
Indian journalists to visit its various facilities. We were told that
the "newest and most advanced Apache, the AH-64D Apache Block-III,
features composite main rotor blades, a composite stabilator, 701D
engines with an enhanced digital electronic control unit, an improved
drive system that enhances the rotorcraft's performance and 26 new
technological insertions".

Ever since the first Apache rolled
out in 1984, its various versions to date have logged more than 3.5
million fight hours. The aircraft took part in the first Gulf War in
1991, where this writer witnessed the helicopter, and then again in
2003 against Iraq. It is deployed on regular combat missions in
Afghanistan and during the May 2011 operation to kill Osama bin Laden
in Pakistan, it was used to provide air cover for the raiding Black
Hawks used by the US Navy commandos.

The Apache is powered by two
GE T700-701D engines and has ballistic protection for the two-man crew
and fuel tanks. It was perhaps the first helicopter to use Kevlar and
composite materials for weight-reduction and protection.

India today test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic missile Agni-IV
with a strike range of about 4000 km from a test range off Odisha coast.
It was test launched with the help of a mobile launcher from launch
complex-4 of ITR at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from here, at about
1145 hours, defence sources said.
A high performance on-board computer with distributed avionics architecture and high speed reliable communication bus and a
full Digital Control System were used to control and guide the missile
to the target.
“It is equipped with modern and compact avionics to provide high level of reliability,” a DRDO official said.
“The state-of-the-art Ring Laser Gyros based high accuracy INS (RINS)
and Micro Navigation System (MINGS) complementing each other in
redundant mode have been incorporated into the missile system in
guidance mode,” the sources said.
The sophisticated missile is lighter in weight and has two stages of
solid propulsion. The payload, with a re-entry heat shield can withstand
temperature of more than 3000 degree Celsius, a defence scientist said.
The missile, is undergoing developmental trials by country’s premier Defence Research and Development
Organisation.
The last trial of the missile, carried out on 15 November, 2011 from the same base was successful.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking to replace the two Mirage 2000 trainer aircraft, which crashed earlier this year.
While the case for the acquisition of the two single-engine trainers
is still at a preliminary stage, it is understood that the IAF,
‘desirous’ of getting their ‘numbers up from 49 to 51′ again, is
planning to make a pitch for the aircraft to the Ministry of Defense.
Sources told StratPost that the imperative for the purchase
was made all the more compelling because the two aircraft that crashed
were trainer versions. Until the crashes, the IAF had 10 trainer
aircraft, spread over each of the three IAF Mirage 2000 squadrons. Now
down to eight, these aircraft are essential for training fresh pilots on
the aircraft type. With the shortfall caused by the two crashes, the
IAF has decided to ask for the purchase of the two aircraft.
Since, the aircraft is no longer manufactured by the Original
Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Dassault, the IAF is planning to identify a
foreign air force operating the aircraft, to which the sale can be
proposed.
Although the aircraft is operated by nine foreign air forces, only the French Armée de l’Air, and the air forces of the United Arab Emirates, Greece and Taiwan operate them in any significant numbers.
The IAF has plans to operate its Mirage 2000 fleet over at least the
next two decades. Last year, India ordered a USD 2.4 billion upgrade
package from Dassault and Thales
for its Mirage 2000 aircraft, to match the Mirage 2000-5 configuration,
followed by a separate weapons package worth USD 1.23 billion for 450 MBDA MICA air-to-air missiles.
Keeping it French, the Dassault-built successor to the Mirage 2000, the Rafale, was selected
earlier this year, as the lowest technically qualified bidder in the
IAF contest for an estimated USD 20 billion order for 126 Medium Multi
Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), beating the Eurofighter Typhoon on price.
The other competitors, the Russian MiG-35, the Swedish Saab Gripen,
and US aircraft, the Lockheed Martin F-16 and the Boeing F/A-18, were eliminated from the contest after the technical trials.

A Talwar class frigate
being built for the Indian Navy at the Yantar Shipyard in Russia’s
exclave of Kaliningrad has begun dock trials, the shipyard said.

The Trikand is the last in a series of
three frigates built under a $1.6-billion contract with India. The first
frigate, the Teg, was delivered to India in April 2012, while the second, the
Tarkash, has completed sea trials and will be delivered in November.

“The Trikand started dock trials at the
Yantar shipyard on September 15,” Yantar spokesman Sergei Mikhailov told
reporters on Tuesday. “They will continue until mid-January next year.”

The sea trials of the frigate will be held
in the Baltic Sea and the delivery of the warship to the Indian Navy is
expected in summer 2013.

The new frigates are each armed with eight
BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

They are also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a
Shtil surface-to-air missile system, two Kashtan air-defense gun/missile
systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo launchers, and an antisubmarine warfare (ASW)
helicopter.

India announced in 2011 that the Yantar
shipyard had delayed the delivery of the frigates for over a year due to a
shortage of skilled labor and flaws in the production chain.

In a separate development, the delivery of
the Vikramaditya, formerly the Russian Navy's Admiral Gorshkov, to the Indian
Navy has been put back from December 2012 to at least October 2013 after
propulsion failures occurred during the ship’s sea trials in the White Sea last
month.

A string of delays on the delivery of
military equipment has drawn sharp criticism by Indian authorities and soured
traditionally strong bilateral military-technical ties.

Moscow has recently lost several large
tenders on the delivery of weaponry to India, which used to be a major buyer of
Russian-made military equipment.

September 18, 2012

Sea trials of an Indian Navy aircraft carrier refitted by a Russian
shipyard were unsuccessful due to design failures in the vessel's
boilers, Russian daily Vedomosti wrote on Tuesday quoting the shipyard's
former director Oleg Shulyakovsky.
The
ship's handover to the Indian Navy was put back from December 2012 to
at least October 2013 after propulsion failures occured when the Vikramaditya, formerly the Russian Navy's Admiral Gorshkov, underwent sea trials in the White Sea last month.
Shulyakovsky says three of the carrier's eight boilers failed, but
the ship still managed to stay underway and reached 23 knots, below its
design speed of 29 knots.
Boiler failures were a legacy of the original vessel's design, he
said, with propulsion snags being a persistent feature of the four
Project 1143 carriers built in the Soviet Union in the 1970's. The
carriers boilers lasted just 20 percent of the design life stated by
their makers, he said.
The replacement boilers installed as part of the vessel's $2.3
billion refit were guaranteed for just ten months, which expired before
the ship took to sea, he said.
Specialists from the Baltisky Shipyard and boiler design bureau are
already at Sevmash shipyard, where the carrier will arrive in the next
few weeks. Engineers are focusing on the boilers' heat insulation as the
core of the problem. Repairs could take from four months to a year
depending on the damage to the insulation, he said.
The worst case would be damage to the pipes carrying steam from the
boilers, Shulyakovsky said. The pipes are made from a special steel
which is no longer made in Russia. The steel used in Vikramaditya's
pipes was made in Ukraine.
A defense industry official quoted by Kommersant newspaper on Monday,
who prepared the Vikramaditya for sea trials, said the reason for the
boilers’ failure was that India refused to use asbestos to protect the
boilers from heat, fearing that the material was dangerous for the crew.
Instead, it used firebrick, which had poorer insulating properties.
The purchase and refit of the Vikramaditya has experienced a long-running catalog of failures and setbacks.
India and Russia signed the $947 million dollar deal in 2005 for the
purchase of the carrier, with an original deadline for the refit's
completion of 2008. Delivery was delayed twice, pushing up the cost of
refurbishing the carrier to $2.3 billion.
Both sides were locked in protracted arguments over who would pay the
extra costs, as it became clear that the refit would be much more
complicated than originally envisaged. A new agreement was signed in
2009 with the Indians agreeing to pay for the extra work needed.
Another Sevmash shipyard director, Vladimir Pastukhov, was fired in 2007 over his poor management of the project.
The Vikramaditya was originally built as the Soviet Project 1143.4 class aircraft carrier Baku.
The ship was laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in
Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet Navy in
1987.
It was renamed Admiral Gorshkov after the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991. In 1994, the Admiral Gorshkov sat in dock for a year for
repairs after a boiler room explosion. In 1995, it briefly returned to
service but was finally withdrawn and put up for sale in 1996.
The ship has a displacement of 45,000 tons, a maximum speed of 32
knots and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a
cruising speed of 18 knots.
India has already started taking delivery of the MiG-29K naval
fighter aircraft for the Vikramaditya, as they were ready before the
refit was completed. The MiG-29Ks will operate in STOBAR (short take-off
but assisted recovery via arresting wires) mode.

September 17, 2012

In his memoirs 'Diplomatic Channels', Kris Srinivasan,
17 years after he demitted office as foreign secretary, reveals that
India's external intelligence agency, RAW, snooped on a telephone
conversation between a reputedly pro-Pakistan US assistant secretary of
state for South Asia, Robin Raphel, and then US ambassador in Islamabad, which confirmed that the US would not back a draft resolution against India on Kashmir moved by Pakistan at the United Nations, and therefore it would fail to proceed any further.

The book, to be launched in London
soon, recounts that Pakistan had provisionally introduced the
resolution at the UN general assembly's first committee in September
1994. To counter this, the ministry of external affairs, led by
Srinivasan, approached then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao to
instigate the release of Kashmiri dissidents, initiate the process of
elections in Jammu & Kashmir, and pave the way for a return of Red
Cross to the state.

Thereafter, meeting his counterpart in the
US administration Peter Tarnoff, Srinivasan argued "a negative vote
against India at the UN would only stimulate militant activity and
render futile the democratic steps the Indian government was trying to take".

India soon came to know of the frustration of Raphel — "which we came
to hear from a phone intercept," says Srinivasan. She informed her
colleague, the US ambassador, that she had pressed for an affirmative
vote for the Pakistan resolution, but had been blocked by the
"higher-ups".

RAW
successfully tapped Raphel's call, despite this being from Washington
to Islamabad, and apparently forwarded a tape and transcript to
Srinivasan.

Interestingly, as a decoy, India had moved a draft
resolution in the UN first committee on the desirability of complete
elimination of nuclear weapons — based on various previous public
pronouncements by the US, Russia
and China — within a fixed time-frame, which had, in fact, found
co-sponsors. This alarmed the Americans, who were pressing for a
resolution favouring a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. They promptly
despatched a senior arms control expert to Delhi to ask India to desist.

South Block withdrew the draft, conveying to Washington that
it would reciprocally expect the same attitude when it came to India's
concerns. The world's superpower, it would appear, was check-mated.
Earlier in 1994, Pakistan had provisionally moved a resolution against
India on Kashmir at the UN Commission for Human Rights. This, too, had
to be withdrawn after strenuous lobbying by the MEA, for which Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Salman Khurshid earned plaudits.

The book is uncomplimentary about some politicians. About Shankar Dayal
Sharma, he says, "He had a mumbling, indistinct manner of speech,
causing his scarcely comprehending foreign visitors much bewilderment."
On K R Narayanan: "He was a humdrum professional diplomat with leftist
inclinations...".

Malfunctions detected during trials of Indian Navy aircraft carrier
Vikramaditya will delay the vessel’s handover to India, the Kommersant
business daily reported on Monday.
The Vikramaditya, formerly the Russian Navy's Admiral Gorshkov, is to
be handed over to India after ongoing sea trials following a
much-delayed refit. According to the latest agreements, it was to have
been handed over on December 4, but the deadline has been postponed
again until October 2013.
The problems started when the vessel tried to gain maximum speed.
“Seven out of eight steam boilers of the propulsion machinery were out of order,” an official told Kommersant.
The official, who prepared the Vikramaditya for sea trials, said the
reason for the boilers’ failure was that India refused to use asbestos
as a means to protect the boilers from heat, fearing that the material
was dangerous for the crew.
He said the boilers’ designer had to use firebrick, which proved not sufficiently heatproof, the official said.

September 15, 2012

Close on the heels of the successful launch of Agni-V,
Agni-II, Agni-I and Prithvi-II missiles from April this year, the
Defence Research and Development Organisation is making preparations on
the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast, for two more Agni variants’
launches.

While Agni-IV will lift off from a
rail-mobile launch pad on September 18, Agni-III missile will blast off
on September 21, said V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to the Defence
Minister. The maiden launch of Nirbhay, a sub-sonic cruise missile, will
take place in October or November.

Both Agni-IV and
Agni-III are two-stage missiles that can carry nuclear warheads weighing
one tonne each. In the missions on September 18 and 21, Agni-IV and
Agni-III will be armed only with conventional explosives. Both missiles
are 17 metres long. While Agni-IV can devastate areas situated 4,000 km
away, Agni-III’s range is over 3,000 km.

While the
DRDO will flight-test Agni-IV, the Strategic Forces Command of the Army,
which is entrusted with firing strategic missiles, will fire Agni-III.
This is Agni-IV’s third flight. Agni-III will be flying for the fourth
time. The maiden flights of both missiles ended in failure.

The
Aeronautical Development Establishment, a DRDO facility in Bangalore,
has developed Nirbhay, a subsonic cruise missile. Nirbhay means
“Fearless” and the missile is a derivative of Lakshya, a pilotless
target aircraft. DRDO sources said Nirbhay’s range was “in the region of
1,000 km.” “It is a tree-top missile, that is, it can fly at the height
of a palmyra tree.”

According to a US intelligence report leaked to the Washington Free
Beacon, China has carried out a fourth flight test of the Dong Feng-31A
(DF-31A) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week, firing off
a new road-mobile ICBM. The test took place at Wuzhai Space and Missile
Test Center in the Shanxi province, about 267 miles southwest of
Beijing. The missile flew westward to impact at a missile test range in
western China. US intelligence monitored the test.
The test represents the fourth missile test conducted by China this
summer. Thursday’s DF-31A test came 10 days after the flight test at
Wuzhai of a silo-based CSS-4 Mod 2 long-range missile, and several weeks
after flight tests of a new road-mobile DF-41 ICBM, on July 24, and a
submarine-launched JL-2 missile on Aug. 16. According to US sources the
extensive pace of tests indicates the growing maturity China’s arsenal
of long range mobile ballistic missile, strengthening the country’s
strategic offensive missile force.
China’s secretive military made
no mention of any of the tests, except an official confirmation of the
development DF-41 ICBM. While the DF-31A, as other Chinese ballistic
missiles is a single-warhead weapon, the US intelligence believe the
DF-41 will carry three to ten independently targetable warheads, each
carrying a nuclear warhead, thus becoming the first Chinese missile to
carry Multiple Independently targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRV)
China is currently in the middle of a major strategic nuclear forces
buildup that includes four new ICBMs – the DF-41, JL-2, DF-31A, and
another road-mobile missile called the DF-31 that is assessed to have
shorter range, compared to the DF-31A. This process includes fielding
solid-fuelled missiles launched from mobile launchers, and dispersed
through a 3,000 miles tunnel network, storing and protecting the
missiles, launchers and spare reloads.
The DF-31A has been
deployed since the mid-2000s and has an estimated range of 7,000 miles,
enough to give China the capability to cover the entire Pacific Ocean,
or hitting Washington or European capitals in a nuclear strike. The
DF-31A warhead is likely to be maneuverable, thus capable of avoiding
some ballistic-defenses.

Two weeks prior to the DF-31A test China tested the much larger DF-41
Intercontinental. On August 30 China’s Defense Ministry confirmed that
the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had conducted missile tests within
national territory and clarified that they were not targeted at any one
country. Spokesperson Geng Yansheng described the test as a ‘normal
weapons tests within China’s territory’. “These tests have no specific
targets and were not targeted at any specific countries,” Geng said,
reiterating that the weaponry buildup is to answer the need to safeguard
national security. China has consistently claimed it will not be the
first to use nuclear weapons and that its nuclear forces are designed
for a counterstrike against a nuclear attack on its territory.
The
spokesman did not comment about the type of missile tested, but
domestic and foreign media reports said that the PLA’s Second Artillery
Force had successfully test-launched several missiles, including DF-41
intercontinental ballistic missile. This missile has a range of 14,000
kilometers; it is loaded with up to ten Multiple Independently targeted
Reentry Vehicles (MIRV), each carrying a nuclear warhead. In addition to
shorter-range ICBMs known as the DF-31 and DF-31A, which are believed
to target India and Russia, the new ICBM is said by U.S. officials to be
designed to hit U.S. targets with multiple nuclear warheads.
According
to the Conservative Washington Free Beacon, the test of the DF-41
road-mobile ICBM occurred July 24 and has raising new concerns within
the U.S. military and intelligence agencies over China’s long-range
missile threat, according to officials familiar with reports of the
test.
This strategic weapon provides China with a ‘first strike’
capability against the U.S. The test is also likely to renew debate
within U.S. intelligence circles about whether China is seeking only a
limited nuclear force, or is secretly building up its nuclear forces to
challenge U.S. strategic power.

September 14, 2012

(Flight Global) : RAC MiG is boosting production activities to meet increased demand for its MiG-29 series of combat aircraft, with the design bureau also close to completing a series of aircraft carrier-based trials for India.
Following its receipt of major orders to supply the Indian and
Russian navies with its MiG-29K deck fighter and MiG-29KUB trainer,
MiG's production partners will complete 24 aircraft in 2012, up from 11
last year. A further dramatic increase is expected, however, with chief
executive Sergey Korotkov having indicated that the annual rate may have
to grow to 36 units to keep up with demand.

MiG says it is on track to complete embarked tests with the MiG-29K/KUB aboard the ex-Russian navy vessel the Admiral Gorshkov, which will soon re-enter Indian use as the INS Vikramaditya.
"The testing flights are to be fulfilled before the ship's handing
over to the Indian navy, scheduled for December 2012," MiG announced at
the show, with the work including using the carrier's "ski jump" ramp.
The service has already received a first batch of 16 aircraft, and
will get the first four examples from a follow-on order for 29 more
later this year.
Russia's navy will also later field 24 MiG-29K/KUBs with its lone aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, under a contract signed in February.
While the opportunity to make further sales with the K-series fighter
is narrow, Korotkov sees the land-based MiG-29M/M2 as holding great
potential. Boasting open-architecture avionics, a new radar and with an
expanded range of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons, the type is
already being offered to possible customers.
"We are certain that as per its cost-efficiency ratio, the MiG-29M/M2
is capable to compete with any modern fighter," Korotkov says. "Many
countries, who initially had declared a fast-track transition to Western
weaponry, after complex analysis have corrected their approaches."

We
have received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) for a potential order to supply products and services for
the manufacture of 20 Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft.

The aircraft, to be built by HAL in Bengaluru,
will fulfill the Indian Air Force’s requirement for its prestigious
aerobatic team.

Upon successful conclusion, this would be the third contract placed on us for the supply of materials and equipment for the Hawk Mk132, building upon previous orders of 66 aircraft in 2004, comprising supply of 24 Hawk aircrafts in fly-away condition and 42 aircraft built under license by HAL, and a further 57 aircraft in 2010. Under these contracts, we have worked closely with the Indian MOD and HAL to establish a production line in India where the aircraft are now assembled. Hawk trainers already in service with the Indian Air Force are performing well.

Guy Griffiths, Group MD, International, said, “This is a tremendous opportunity to build on the success of Hawk
in India and demonstrates the progress we are making in capturing
significant opportunities to address the defence modernization
requirements of the Indian Government. Together with HAL, we look
forward to giving the Indian Air Force’s display team a fantastic
aircraft.”

Together with HAL we are committed to strengthen our
relationship through ongoing discussions on exploring long-term
sustainable business opportunities, globally.

The potential addition to the Indian fleet, one of the largest fleets of Hawk anywhere in the world, would take the number of Hawk aircraft ordered worldwide to over 1,000. The Hawk aircraft has been widely exported. Customers include Australia, Canada, South Africa, Bahrain, India, the Royal Saudi Air Force and the UK Royal Air Force. The UK Royal Air Force aerobatics team Red Arrows has used the BAE Systems Hawk since 1979.

September 13, 2012

Two U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers were sent toward the coast of Libya following the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three consulate employees, Fox News reported citing unnamed military officials.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed on
Tuesday after the diplomatic facility in Benghazi was attacked by an
armed mob angry over a U.S.-produced film that is said to be insulting
to Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
According to Fox News, a team of about 50 U.S. marines was also sent
to Libya and will be dispatched in the country’s capital of Tripoli.
“A Marine "fast team" is being sent from the U.S. Naval base in Rota,
Spain. They are expected to go to Tripoli,” Fox News reported.
The move comes after U.S. President Barack Obama ordered “all
necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya,
and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe.”
Libyan Ambassador to the United States Ali Aujali put the blame for
the attack on supporters and sidekicks of slain Gaddafi, while the U.S.
intelligence service initially reported that the attack was linked to
al-Qaeda.

September 11, 2012

India's bid to buy 16 multi-role helicopters worth over $1
billion for its navy has been hit by delays after the defence ministry
recently asked the two competing firms to extend their commercial
proposals till Dec 31.

Soon after the commercial bids
were extended by the two firms, European consortium NH Industries (NHI)
wrote to the defence ministry reiterating its objections to letting US
company Sikorsky continue in the tender, claiming its product had failed
in meeting the requirements.

Defence ministry sources told IANS
here that NH Industries and Sikorsky were asked to extend their
commercial bids till December just before the validity of their
proposals, made less than two years ago, had expired in July.

NHI has offered its NH90 platform, while Sikorsky is competing with the S70B helicopter.After
the two competing helicopters had qualified the field evaluation trials
held November last year, the Indian Navy had submitted its report to
the defence ministry, which is now in the process of decision-making.

However,
soon after the two companies were asked to extend their bids, NHI's
official Julien Negrel wrote to Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and
other top Indian defence officials questioning the validity of
Sikorsky's bids and its selection after the evaluation trials, claiming
it had not complied with the naval staff qualitative requirements
(NSQRs) laid down in the tender documents.

This is the second
time the NHI had objected to letting Sikorsky continue in the bids,
having done so early this year in a letter to Defence Minister A.K.
Antony after its previous communication sent to the defence secretary
December last year reportedly got no response.

Sources said the
latest NHI letter had wondered if the Indian defence ministry has
accorded waivers to the Sikorsky over "non-compliance" with NSQRs during
the field evaluation.

The European firm has also asked the
defence ministry to confirm the concessions to Sikorsky before it is
invited for commercial negotiations.

The letter also sought time
of 30 days after such confirmation is offered by the Indian defence
ministry for NHI to review its own proposals with regard to the waived
NSQRs.

In its earlier letter, NHI had raised questions over the
S-70B's qualifications with regard to at least eight aspects of the
NSQRs such as dual redundancy, fitment of fuel tanks, full authority
automatic flight control system, fuel reserves at the end of mission,
sensor functions and usage monitoring system.

However, the Indian
Navy had dismissed these objections, saying NHI was trying to "mislead"
the defence ministry on the NSQRs and was "twisting" the parameters, to
"unreasonably" delay the tender process.

The navy, in its report, recommended that both firms' helicopters met the NSQRs and hence the selection process could continue.

September 10, 2012

India plans to sign the $11 billion MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) deal with French Rafale by the end of this month-end or next month, a senior Indian Air Force official said .
"I find no reason why it shouldn't be signed by the end of this month
or next month", Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, IAF,
Air Marshal Rajinder Singh said.

He indicated that negotiations are currently on with regard to
pricing for the 126-aircraft deal. "There is money....this thing here
and there (pricing being finalised)".
The Air Marshal admitted to
"some problems" (on pricing) but asserted that it's not unusual in such
big deals. "It should come through", he said, adding that the first
aircraft under the MMRCA deal would start "flowing in" in 2017.
The Air Marshal dismissed reports quoting Russian and German officials
who had claimed that the deal is not final yet and that it's still up in
the air.
"Nothing of that sort", he said, pointing out India had already declared the lowest bidder -- Rafale -- for the MMRCA deal.
Vyacheskav Dzirkaln, Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Service for
Military Technical Cooperation,was recently quoted as saying:"I wouldn't
say that MMRCA tender is a closed issue. We have information that the
tender is still up in the air".
The deputy chief of the ruling CDU-led coalition's parliamentary committee in Bundestag (lower house of German Parliament) for foreign and defence affairs, Andreas Schockenhoff, reportedly said recently the last word had not yet been heard on the MMRCA deal.
Russia's MiG-35 did not make it to the MMRCA shortlist, which also included Eurofighter Typhoon,designed by a European consortium in which Germany is a part, besides Rafale.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has lit the afterburners to make its Jaguars fighting fit for modern warfare and increase their service life.The Jaguars, the only aircraft with the IAF capable of carrying
nuclear weapons other than the Mirage-2000s, are being fitted with
autopilots, next generation avionics and lethal armaments under an
ambitious modernisation programme that will see the fighters flying well
after 2030.Nearly 120 Jaguars are being modernised. So far, the IAF has
procured autopilots for 55 Jaguars and talks for 95 more, which includes
spare autopilots, are underway, according to information shared by the
government in Parliament.The upgradation of the Ambala-based fighter jets, in service for more than four decades, is being carried out by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of more than Rs 3,000 crore.

Autopilots would lessen pilot workload, freeing them from
physically flying the jet during long flights though, in an ultimate
test of IAF top guns, six Jaguars flew all the way to Alaska for a joint
exercise with the US Air Force in 2004.The government is also reviving a plan to re-engine the aircraft with a more powerful powerplant. The IAF feels the Jaguars, powered by Rolls Royce Adour-811 turbofan engines, are underpowered, and wants a more powerful engine for the fighters.But its hunt for a new power-plant has not been easy. In 2010,
its bid for more than 250 turbofans for the Jaguars could not take off
as one of the contenders – Rolls Royce, which offered its upgraded Adour
MK-821 engine – backed out leaving only Honeywell’s F124IN engine in
the fray.The Indian government prefers to avoid single-vendor bids in military acquisitions.The Jaguar’s cockpit is going to completely transform. It’s going to turn all glass. There will be digital MFDs (multifunction displays) replacing the traditional analog gauges and dials, and pilots will have fly-by-wire controls.

September 8, 2012

Russia’s new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile will have a
5-ton warhead, which is four times that of its predecessors, a former
military commander said on Friday.
“The new ICBM will have a payload four times bigger than that of the
Yars missile,” said Col. Gen. Viktor Yesin (Ret.), advisor to the
Russian Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) commander, who served as SMF
chief of staff in 1991-93.
“The 45-ton Yars has a payload of 1.2 tons. The new missile will be able to orbit a payload of 5 tons.”
The new missile will have a greater capability for missile defense penetration, he said.

MF chief Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said this past Monday that Russia
will build a new ICBM by 2018. The new missile is to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda (NATO reporting name SS-18 Satan) missile.
So far all of Russia’s recent ICBM projects, both sea-launched (Bulava) and ground-based (Topol-M, Yars), have been solid fuel.

Karakayev said the new ICBM will have a launch mass of around 100
tons with a better payload-launch weight ratio than in a solid fuel
missile.

Such ICBMs can only be deployed in silos.
The Russian Defense Ministry previously said that unless the United
States abandons its plans to create a missile defense system in Europe,
Russia will take counter measures, including building a new heavy
liquid-propellant missile.

September 6, 2012

(Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N)
foresees global demand for a ballistic missile-defense shield it is
co-developing to help guard Israel, the head of the company's military
business said on Tuesday.Israel is getting set for the
first full flight test of its Arrow anti-missile system using a new
high-altitude interceptor called Arrow 3."As
we prove out that technology, and show that it's not only affordable
but effective, we think there will be additional global market
opportunities for that capability," Dennis Muilenburg, chief executive
of Boeing's defense, space and security arm, told Reuters.Boeing
thinks that potential markets may include India, Singapore and South
Korea, a company official said in a followup telephone conversation.The
United States and Israel have been jointly developing Arrow since 1988.
Boeing's counterpart on the project is state-owned Israel Aerospace
Industries.Arrow 3, the system's
highest-altitude component, which operates outside the atmosphere, is
expected to be deployed by 2014, according to the U.S. Congressional
Research Service.The capabilities
to be demonstrated in the coming test include searching further and
higher for missiles of the type being designed and tested by Iran. No
intercept of a simulated enemy design is scheduled in the upcoming test.Boeing
is set to produce half or more of the Arrow 3 interceptors in the
United States, with Israel doing the integration. A key selling point,
Boeing believes, would be the system's relative affordability.Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) makes a rival missile shield called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.So
far, THAAD's only foreign sale has been to the United Arab Emirates.
Lockheed Martin received a $1.96 billion U.S. government contract last
December to produce two THAAD weapons systems for the UAE.Any overseas sales of the Arrow system would be on a similar government-to-government basis.Muilenburg said another likely selling point would be the potential for a buyer nation's industry to be involved in production."That's
a technology area where many countries are interested in building up
their own industrial capacity in addition to providing the defensive
capability," he said.The total
U.S. financial contribution to progressively improved versions of the
Arrow system tops $1 billion, the Congressional Research Service said in
a March 12 report to lawmakers.The
Obama administration's fiscal 2013 budget request includes $99.8
million in joint U.S.-Israeli co-development for missile defense, a sum
that U.S. lawmakers have moved to more than double in the ongoing budget
process.

September 5, 2012

Moscow and Delhi have agreed to set up a joint venture in India for
manufacturing and post-sales servicing of rockets for Russian Smerch
multiple rocket launchers, state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport said
on Wednesday.
The two countries signed a memorandum of cooperation on August 27, the agency said.
“Complete rocket production technology will be transferred to the joint venture,” it said.
The Smerch MLRS uses 300mm rockets with a range of 70 to 90 km with a variety of warheads

September 4, 2012

Defence personnel posted at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) were not being allowed to use force against repeated Chinese incursions in Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh area, a BJP leader claimed.
"Our
forces at the border are saying they are not getting permission to use
force to thwart appropriately the incursions and illegal moves by the
Chinese. BJP demands immediate protection to the border villages of
Ladakh and if needed use of force by our security forces," BJP MP and spokesperson Tarun Vijay told reporters.
Chinese incursions in Ladakh
have increased in the wake of China's Defence Minister Gen Liang
Guanglie's five-day India visit, he claimed. Describing the Indian
government's silence on this issue as "baffling", he demanded that India
take up this issue with the Chinese and strongly oppose it. He claimed
that Chinese armed forces put pressure on Indian border villages not to
unfurl the tricolour at Demchhok, near the LAC.
"Instead, the villagers were asked on Independence Day to unfurl the flag in a hall near ITBP post, at a distance from the LAC," Vijay said.
Development
work in the border village of Koyul in Leh has also come to a halt as a
result of it, he claimed. "The surprising silence of Defence and Home
Ministries in this regard is mysterious," Vijay said, adding that the
Deputy Commissioner of Leh had written to the Divisional Commissioner,
Srinagar, who in turn requested the Home Ministry to intervene in the
matter, but no action has been taken.

EXPLOSIVE ISSUE:A military report
indicates that China has boosted its arsenal to 1,600 missiles, with
its new advanced, medium-range DF-16 missiles among them. The number of ballistic and cruise missiles aimed by China’s Second
Artillery Corps at Taiwan has grown from 1,400 last year to more than
1,600 this year, which poses a serious threat to the nation, the
Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in its China Military Power
Report 2012.

This year’s annual report, which has been delivered to the legislature, emphasizes China’s growing missile threat.
It
said the People’s Liberation Army had deployed a small number of
advanced Dong Feng-16 (DF-16) missiles to complement the arsenal of
DF-11 and DF-15 short-range missiles that has threatened Taiwan over the
years. National Security Bureau Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the
legislature in March last year that the Chinese military had completed
developing the new DF-16. Photographs in April suggested the deployment
of the medium-range missile had begun. Military analysts also believe
that the DF-16 may be mobile, which would make interception more
difficult.
To increase area-denial, the Second Artillery has
deployed DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles, the report said, adding
that DF-31A ICBMs armed with nuclear warheads and capable of reaching
the US and most European countries were deployed to deter other
countries from interfering in any conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The
number of ballistic and cruise missiles aimed at Taiwan has increased
by about 200 from last year and is now estimated at 1,600, it said,
adding that an increasing number were equipped with advanced GPS systems
allowing for precision attacks against Taiwan.
Facing an
increased threat from Chinese missiles, plans are being made to
modernize Taiwan’s air defense systems, the report said.
According to the military budget proposal for next year, the ministry
has earmarked funds to modernize and expand its surface-to-air missiles
(SAM), with the ministry planning to procure rocket boosters from the
US to place on the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile. It
also has plans to acquire AGM-65G Maverick missiles, AGM-84L Harpoon
missiles and Magic II missiles, as well as the domestically produced
Tien Chien II missiles.
The Chungshan Institute of Science and
Technology is also to be called upon to modernize parts of the
indigenous Tien Kung “Sky Bow” I and II air-defense systems.
The military also plans to send aging MIM23 Hawk medium-range SAMs to the US for efficiency tests, the budget proposal shows.
In addition, the military plans to procure rocket motors from the US to equip its Standard Missile 1, it says.
Although
relations across the Taiwan Strait have improved, China has not slowed
its military buildup, which is mainly intended to deter the Taiwanese
independence movement, the report says.